CICERO, N.Y. -- Doorbell surveillance cameras can now help solve crimes in Cicero.

The Cicero Police Department has joined a program with Ring, a home security company known for its doorbell cameras, to make it easier for police to find surveillance footage in the wake of a crime. Through the company’s Neighbors app, the department can now ask property owners for permission to review surveillance videos.

Cicero signed up for the program this week, said Sgt. James Meyers, the department’s spokesman. The department is now among the 405 agencies across the nation that are using Ring to find home surveillance videos.

Cicero doesn’t pay to use Ring to find videos and the company doesn’t pay Cicero for joining the program, Meyers said.

The program lets police engage with residents using Neighbors, an app run by Ring that lets users anonymously share their home surveillance footage and post about crimes in their neighborhood.

Cicero police and the Brighton Town Police Department are the only agencies using the app in Upstate New York, according to a map posted on Ring’s website.

The partnership comes months after the Cicero department created its own neighborhood surveillance camera program.

Launched in late June, the program asks residents and business owners to register the locations of their surveillance cameras with Cicero police. Community members can share the locations of their cameras by filling out a form on the department’s website. Hundreds of people have registered, Meyers said.

After a crime is reported, police normally canvass neighborhoods in search of surveillance videos. Now, if there is a string of car break-ins or other crimes on a particular street, police can go to the registry and see if anyone has a camera nearby, Meyers said.

“It’s really a time saver,” he said.

Ring’s Neighbors app will serve as another way to more easily find surveillance videos, Meyers said.

This is how the company says it works:

Verified law enforcement officers can ask Ring to seek video footage from customers who have cameras in an area where police are investigating a crime.

Ring sends an email to customers asking if they would like to share their videos with police.

If the customer agrees to share a video, the company gives the officers access to the video.

The Cicero Police Department is among the 405 agencies across the nation that partner with Ring and use the Neighbors app to seek doorbell surveillance camera footage to help solve crimes. These screenshots show what the app looks like for the Syracuse area.

Police must tell Ring what case the department is investigating, the company said, and can only request recordings within a limited time and area.

According to Ring, police don’t have access to users’ cameras or live-video steams. The identities and addresses of customers are also kept private, Ring said.

Ring has dubbed Neighbors the “New Neighborhood Watch.” Millions of Americans use the app, according to Ring.

In Syracuse, users have recently posted on the app about thieves stealing from yards and opening packages left on porches.

One user questioned if loud pops heard near Grant Boulevard on the North Side were fireworks or gunshots.

Others shared videos -- some recorded in color, some in black and white -- of people breaking into cars at night.

Ring, launched in 2013 as a line of Internet-connected “smart doorbells,” has grown into one of the nation’s biggest household names in home security, according to the Washington Post. The Santa Monica-based, Amazon-owned company sells alarm systems, floodlight cameras and motion-detecting doorbell cameras and offers subscription services that allow homeowners to save videos or have their systems professionally monitored.